Category: <span>Featured</span>

LONG-TERM ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER CAUSED BY KAKHOVKA HYDROPOWER DAM BLAST

By LORI HINNANT, SAM McNEIL and ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam was a fast-moving disaster that is swiftly evolving into a long-term environmental catastrophe affecting drinking water, food supplies and ecosystems reaching into the Black Sea. The short-term dangers can be seen from outer space …

New Canal Construction by Taliban Exacerbates Water Crisis in the Aral Sea Basin

Bakyt Ibraimov, Fawad Ali Source: The Third Pole May 18, 2023 Salt deposits in the Karakum desert, Turkmenistan, where experts say the Karakum Canal has resulted in land being salinised and seasonally waterlogged, making agriculture impossible (Image: Alamy) For more than 50 years, Afghanistan has contemplated building an enormous canal that …

Protecting Free Flowing Rivers – briefing for banks how to avoid harm

“Free flowing river” is an intuitively clear and appealing concept, but if we want its protection to be embedded into policies and regulations there is a need for formalized definition and identification algorithms. Our first attempt is directed at development banks, which often support destructive infrastructure projects negatively affecting wild …

AMONG THE KEY MITIGATION MEASURES THE IPCC FAVORS FOREST AND RIVER ECOSYSTEM CONSERVATION AND REJECTS LARGE HYDROPOWER

The International Panel on Climate Change has released the Synthesis Report of its 6th Assessment. The document leaves  little room for optimism, but we will try to interpret its messages related to freshwater ecosystems in the most constructive manner: Takeaways for Rivers:

Asian Development Bank Downplays Risks of Large Hydropower

Today, celebrating the Day of Action for Rivers, dozens of civil society groups published their critique of the Draft Guidance Note on Large Hydropower which was disclosed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a short “consultation period”. The ADB may establish a dangerous precedent issuing Guidance, that instructs its …